International organisations condemn detention of journalists during Delhi protests, urge police to uphold press freedom

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Sunday urged Delhi Police to refrain from targeting journalists covering protests in the capital and honour the government’s assurance to the Supreme Court that media personnel would not be impeded in performing their duties.

CPJ is a US-based independent organisation that documents attacks on journalists and advocates for press freedom worldwide. Other international organisations, such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR), also expressed concern.

“At least six journalists, including those from mainstream news organisations such as The Indian Express and Hindustan Times, were temporarily detained by Delhi Police,” CPJ said in a post on X.

“CPJ calls on Delhi Police to honour the government’s assurance to the Supreme Court that journalists will not be impeded in their professional duties and to refrain from targeting journalists covering the protests,” it added.

They said India, as the world’s largest democracy, had a special responsibility to uphold press freedom and protect journalists’ constitutional right to report without interference.

The detentions

These detentions took place during the October 10 protests, planned by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Authorities imposed curbs without precedent in Delhi, ordering the gates of 45 metro stations to be shut, cutting mobile internet across central Delhi, cancelling trains into the city, deploying more than 40,000 Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) personnel, and installing barricades and spike strips ahead of the protest.

Nearly 4,000 people were detained on Saturday, including former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, TMC’s Mamata Banerjee and AISA’s Neha Bora, the police said.

There were reports of journalists being detained around Jantar Mantar. Posts and videos on social media showed the detained journalists flashing their press cards from the buses transporting detainees.

The continuing detentions across Delhi -- hours after the Supreme Court ordered that peaceful, unarmed protesters cannot be detained except in accordance with the “procedure established by law” -- came against the background of similar instances in the past where authorities used vague language or procedural issues to effectively bypass judicial orders.

This phenomenon has been seen across governments -- right from arrests under the now-scrapped Section 66A to continuing violations of Arnesh Kumar guidelines while arresting a person and delays in releasing someone who's been granted relief by the courts -- and has been rubber-stamped by the lower judiciary that has placed a premium on public order, often at the cost of personal liberties.

For example, in two landmark orders in 2012 and 2018, the Supreme Court warned against wide and arbitrary prohibitory orders and blanket denial of permission to protests. Yet, in the current instance, agitators complain that police continue to pick them up even while walking or standing peacefully, or beyond the jurisdiction of the New Delhi district, where the original orders were issued.

Other organisations echo concerns

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported a higher number of detentions than CPJ, saying it had learnt that at least 16 journalists were “brutally detained” while covering public demonstrations.

Their list included journalists from Business Standard, Navbharat Times and Reuters, among others, as well as freelance journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. RSF also reported detentions in Ahmedabad and Pune.

RSF—headquartered in Paris— monitors violations against journalists and campaigns for independent journalism.

“Covering events of public interest is not a crime. It is their job. The police’s actions against the press are unacceptable,” the organisation said.

The United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) also expressed concern over reports of mass detentions in Delhi involving journalists, civil society members and lawyers. It called on Indian authorities to respect the right to peaceful assembly, exercise restraint, and release anyone arbitrarily detained.

“The Indian authorities should also ensure law enforcement forces exercise utmost restraint in response to peaceful protesters, consistent with the country’s democratic traditions and human rights obligations. All those arbitrarily detained must be immediately and unconditionally released,” said UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan.